Prime Minister Gillard has announced that a mining ‘jobs board’ will be created to allow Australian job seekers to find out exactly what jobs are available in the Australian mines – and mining companies won’t be able to bring in overseas workers, if there are Australian workers available who are able to complete the work.
This comes after the Australian Government approved mining magnate, Gina Rinehart’s (Australia’s richest person), company to hire more than 1,700 overseas workers for their Roy Hill Iron Ore Project – which is equal to 20 percent of the total workforce for this project.
Why Do Mining Companies See the Need to Hire From Overseas?
This question continues to baffle job seekers. If there are so many Australians who are looking to work in the mines, eager to get the skills, and ready to go – then why do these companies feel the need to looks for workers from overseas?
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You would be forgiven for believing that the workers being ‘imported’ to work on this project would be highly skilled workers, in positions that do not have enough qualified Australians, but AWU secretary, Paul Howes said on Friday,
“And Chris Bowen is announcing that Gina Rinehart gets an early Christmas present – getting blanket approval to import 1,700 semi and low-skilled workers for the Roy Hill project.”
In fact, he also went on to say:
“Ms Rinehart had not even bothered to advertise the available positions to gauge the level of interest from local workers.” – read more here.

Which makes it hard to see it as anything other than a pure profit grab, but Gina Rinehart’s company – at the expense of eager Australian workers.
So What’s the News On This New Jobs Board?
Well we are going to have to wait an see what the Labor Government come up with, as all we know about it is what Julia Gillard mentioned when addressing the above situation, and that is:
A ‘jobs board’ for the mining industry will be created.
Overseas workers can’t be imported, unless suitable Australian workers can’t be found.
We will post more information as soon as we learn more about what this new jobs board is going to entail and exactly how it will benefit Australian jobs seekers.
Until then, be sure to visit our article where we look at 5 current mining jobs boards, and start your search there.